1. Sashi Brown, the Browns' executive vice president of football operations, made it clear on Wednesday that Cleveland is comfortable with who it might take with the No. 1 overall pick. Just don't expect him to reveal anything just yet. "Stay tuned next Thursday," Brown said with a laugh after being asked if they'd reached a consensus with eight days until draft night.
Brown also stressed that nothing is off the table in regards to potential first-round moves but would be surprised if the Browns traded down like they did in 2016. "We have received calls," he said. "We haven't resigned ourselves one way or the other. We feel really good about picking at No. 1."
2. Speaking of the first overall pick....
Myles Garrett, the Texas A&M defensive end who is considered by most draft analysts to be the best player in the draft, is still linked by most to the Browns at that spot. And over the past few months, Brown, Berry, head coach Hue Jackson and others have gotten to know Garrett.
"We spent a lot of time with him, No. 1. We learned a lot about what makes him tick, what motivates him, how he spends his down time, how he spends his time with his teammates," Brown said.
"You can learn a lot. He is an enjoyable young man, very bright. Whatever team gets him, particularly if it's us, would be proud to have him."
3. Best player available or addressing critical roster needs? Vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry, who guides the team's pro and college scouting departments, said there's no right answer. "All of that comes into consideration – overall talent, positional value and need on the current roster. It really just depends on the circumstance," he said.
"It depends on where you are picking in the round and what other opportunities may be available later in the draft, depending on how deep a particular position is. Really, it just depends on the individual situation. I know that is probably not as satisfying as an answer as you hoped for, but it is the truth."
4. As the Browns search for a long-term answer at quarterback, they've met with a handful of the top signal-callers, including North Carolina's Mitchell Trubisky, Clemson's Deshaun Watson, Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer and Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes. "All of them are really mature young men," Brown said, "and I think would handle themselves well."
Asked further about Trubisky, a Mentor native who grew up rooting for the Browns, Brown described the former Tar Heel as "a positive young man, bright, very competitive" who brings a "lunchbox, blue-collar mentality to the position."
"We were impressed by him," he added.
5. The Browns are open to trading up from No. 12 but are not philosophically inclined to do so. Brown outlined that dynamic in broad strokes, saying Cleveland values draft picks because "no matter how prepared you are there is always a lot of uncertainty in the draft."
"Every team misses. We are not going to be different in that regard, " Brown said. "We like young talent. We've said the draft is going to be the pipeline. We don't want to get into a habit of turning two picks into one, so to speak. We just don't think that's a good way to do business over time.
"We have studied this around the league, and it's just our inclination. It doesn't mean that if there's a player there we might not go take a shot. We think we're positioned to be able to do that without impacting our draft much."
